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Cooperative Calligraphy
Plot End tag Recurring themes Continuity *'That just happened': **Pierce is still recovering from injuries he sustained in the previous episode "Aerodynamics of Gender". **Troy remembers Chang's voicemail to him in "Epidemiology" when Abed mentions when Shirley could have conceived a baby according to a notebook he kept which charted her menstrual cycle. *'Previously': When Britta objects to the possibility that Abed is the thief, other group members remind her of what he did to them in "Contemporary American Poultry". *'School supplies': **The episode revolves around the loss of Annie's purple pen. Pierce's wheelchair is introduced in this episode. Jeff's cell phone is also featured. **Annie's Boobs' stash contains various items from previous episodes including: Pierce's Ear-Noculars from "Social Psychology", Shirley's WWBJD? bracelet from "Comparative Religion", Annie's picnic basket covering from "Home Economics", the Greendale Human Being doll Troy sent to himself as a Valentine's Day gift in "Communication Studies", a miniature sombrero Britta put on a frog for April Fool's and a Troy and Abed in the Morning! mug both first seen in "The Science of Illusion", Britta's Tranny Queen sash from "Pascal's Triangle Revisited", , lip balm which was first used by Abed in "Modern Warfare", Jeff/Britta balloon from the wedding Abed arranged in "Anthropology 101". In addition, Troy's Greendale student ID card and the watch he wore in Season One is also shown. *'School uniform': Jeff's striped underwear makes another appearance. *'Googly eyes': Jeff and Annie have a very heated exchange and stare-down before they start stripping down to their underwear. Dan Harmon on DVD commentaries for this episode commented that they were probably hot for each other in the scene. *'Middle Eastern Magic 8 Ball': **Shirley's pregnancy test hints at an upcoming storyline with her ex-husband Andre and Ben Chang. **After Troy and Jeff have cut open Pierce's leg casts, Abed states "I'm worried we've gone too far, this is how super villians are created.", foreshadowing Pierce's role in future episodes, especially "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". *'This must be the place': Excepting the end tag, the entire episode takes place inside of Group Study Room F. *'Winger speech': Subverted when Jeff merely supposes, "What if a ghost took the pen?" Troy's ghost story serves the purpose of the usual Winger Speech. Running gags '*Special Note': The episode features the second utterance of the word "Beetlejuice". The 1988 Tim Burton film is about a ghost that is summoned after having his name spoken three times. The movie was first mentioned in the Season One episode "Communication Studies" and later in the Season Three episode "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" which takes advantage of the previous mentions and gives a brief payoff for the unexpected two year setup. *'Deanotation': The Dean says he is "Drive-by-Deaning". *'Awww!: The whole study group responds to Dean Pelton's announcement of a Puppy Parade. *'''NOOOOOO!: Annie loses it when the group tries to walk away before she is able to find her pen. *'Raging against the machine': Britta goes off on the police-state conditions Annie has created in the study room. *'Annie's Boobs': **The monkey steals Annie's pen to set off the entire chain of events and is revealed to the audience as the culprit at the end of the episode. **Annie shows some cleavage when she takes off her sweater and minutes later when wearing just a bra. **Annie is initially topless behind the study table. *'Gasp': Several characters gasp multiple times throughout the episode. *'Attention students!': The Dean Pelton makes a couple of announcements about the Puppy Parade. *'Butt stuff': **Troy worries that the thought police will search his butt. **Annie suggests that Jeff has the pen in a certain area of his anatomy and not to relax or it will fall out. *'Rhyme time': This is the first instance of intentionally rhyming words with celebrities' names. *'Fan service': The entire group strips down to their underwear. *'WWBJD': Shirley questions the morals of the other group members several times. However, her own morality is questioned by Britta when it's revealed that Shirley slept with Andre who is now married to someone else. *'PCness': Subverted during the tag, where the "Equality + Togetherness" cart with a cat and a dog together is too preachy even for the Dean. Pop culture references *'TV Guide': Pierce assumes Abed watches Benny Hill. *'Well-read': Britta invokes Nineteen Eighty-Four when Annie wants to look in her bag. *'Product placement': **Troy says that Pierce pops painkillers like tic tacs. **Troy thinks that Pierce's legs smell "like a Waffle House sink." **Jeff finds some slim jims under Pierce's casts. *'Shout out': Annie, Troy, Britta and Pierce mention Harvey Keitel, Henry David Thoreau, Mike Tyson and Stephen Fry, respectively. Meta references *'Use your allusion': Troy's ghost theory is inspired by Paranormal Activity. *'IRL': During Season One and the beginning of Season Two, Dan Harmon had been exchanging a war of words on his twitter account with a user named "Gwynnifer" over her criticisms of the show. He ended up using her account name in this episode as the name of Jeff's date. In the Community The Complete Second Season DVD commentaries for this episode he mentions this bit of trivia and also suggests that within the story "Gwynnifer" is Jeff's code name for Britta. *'Up against the wall': **Jeff directly states that the study group is doing a bottle episode. **Abed wonders why Jeff can't "just make an inspiring Winger Speech about trust, throw in a few digs at an easy celebrity target and put a ribbon on this thing." **On the whiteboard behind Annie and Shirley, the phrase "If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? - Pierce" *'Homage': The entire episode follows the convention of a bottle episode and/or locked room mystery. Reception Critical reaction Ratings Ratingswise, the episode pulled in 4.89 million total viewers in the fast overnights, with a 2.1 rating/6 share in the 18-49 demo. Trivia * Frequent background extra Jeremy makes another of over 45 episode appearances. He passes by the Study Room numerous times including a shot where the operator of Pierce's wheelchair can be seen (marked with red arrows in photo). * Annie's boobs can be seen taking the pen 41 seconds in (circled in photo). Quotes Category:Season 2 Episodes Category:Community Episodes